Mud for Kearsney’s name as they bail on the ISRF at the last minute

Kearsney’s under-pressure Director of Rugby, Keegan Daniel, has done it again — he’s withdrawn from yet another festival at a late stage.

Last year, it was the Bishops 175th Festival. This year, it’s the Independent Schools Rugby Festival, which also serves as the St Charles 150th Festival, set to kick off on Saturday, 28 June 2025 — just a few days away!

Unsurprisingly, news of the last-minute decision has not gone down well amongst the other private schools attending.

There appears to be little to no outside sympathy or support for Kearsney’s actions, with the prevailing sentiment being that most of the other participating schools face similar challenges. For example, Kearsney’s last regular-season opponents, St Alban’s, will be without 11 of their u17 stayers. Another school, St Andrew’s from the Eastern Cape, is fielding a Thistles side made up of non-matrics and u17 players who are not part of their regular 1st XV.

Finding a replacement team and/or redoing the ISRF fixture list is going to be a significant challenge for the organisers. One can only hope there is still time for Kearsney headmaster Patrick Lees to realise that this is not the way to conduct schoolboy rugby affairs — and to reverse the withdrawal decision.

Back in 2012, Kearsney managed to organise a choir tour to Far East and a cricket tour to the UK, had players unavailable due to Provincial Youth Week commitments — and still fielded a team at the Independent Schools Rugby Festival (ISRF). The point is, there’s a wealth of past experience to draw on when making better long-term decisions before committing to rugby events that are likely to stretch resources.

Another widely held opinion is that Keegan Daniel is feeling the pressure in a big way and is eager to avoid adding any more “L’s” to what’s been a challenging 2025 season. Kearsney has also issued a statement explaining why their Sevens season has been cancelled. According to their leadership, it is all about trusting the process — but officials from other schools remain unconvinced.

The truth is, Kearsney, so well known for their academic excellence, had a 1st XV effort this year that actually earned them a pass mark. Yes, there were two heavy defeats — 50-pointers — against fellow KZN private schools Hilton and Michaelhouse, which understandably didn’t sit well with the Botha’s Hill community. But aside from those setbacks, the young One-Stripe team navigated the season admirably.

They won three out of four swing games, enabling them to finish the year with a record of 14 matches played and 8 won and in their other three respectable defeats against DHS, Maritzburg College and Westville they proved to be worthy opponents — not bad for a team initially expected to be on the receiving end of a few cricket scores in what is widely regarded as a tough KZN league these past few years.

Even more encouraging was the clear improvement in backline play seen under new head coach Grant Bashford. This traditionally 1D facet was arguably the best the College has produced since their last truly strong team in 2016 — and incidentally, that 2016 outfit had the luxury of a dominant forward pack in front of them.

The 2025 backline had its share of regrets on defence and missed opportunities along the way but what was so impressive towards the end of the season was their ability to produce creative, flowing, well-coordinated team play; attack from anywhere on the park and make good decisions under pressure, despite playing behind a relatively small and often outmuscled pack. It was exciting, intelligent rugby — and for many observers, a genuine highlight of Kearsney’s campaign.